Boat Tour on the River Seine

Bonjour, all!

Care to join me on a cruise of the River Seine in Paris?

Oui?  Then come aboard the Bateaux Parisienne for an early evening ride!

Hubby and I decided to spend our last night in Paris on this one hour tour.  We had taken the tour several times over the years, but it never grows old!  From the river, you get a totally different perspective of the city, and night time with the twinkling lights seems extra magical.
I didn't think to get a picture of the boat before we boarded, but I did snap this afterward.

My very favorite church, Notre Dame.  It looks quite different from the water!

One of the many bridges in Paris.

This is Muse d'Orsay.  It used to be a train station many years ago, but was converted to a huge museum.  It's full of beautiful impressionistic art, including my favorite, Claude Monet. 

Below is  the Conciergerie.
I just love the turrets.  Behind the beautiful walls, it was a prison during the French Revolution.  Marie Antoinette was imprisoned here before she met her fate.

Sorry, I have some of the pictures out of order.  You can see now it is getting a bit darker.  Here we are about to go beneath a bridge.  I just love the way the lights shimmer on the water, and the way the bridge is illuminated.

Sigh!!!  I miss it already!

A not so great pic of moi.
The millions of twinkly lights on the Eiffel Tower hadn't been turned on yet.

Oooh, la, la!

It is such a romantic city, even more so in the evening, I think.

Now we are approaching my favorite bridge, the Ponte Alexandre III.

Coming back toward Notre Dame, where our boat ride began.

Well that concludes our tour:)
Thanks so much for joining me!

More Adventures in Paris

Bonjour, All!

Care to join me for a little tour of the City of Lights?

Ok, let's start out at Luxembourg Gardens.

We visited the gardens last Sunday, and the weather couldn't have been nicer!

Paris is a very busy city, so it's always a treat to take a little break in one of the many gardens thru out the city.  Some are very tiny,  but I think this one must be the largest.  It's huge! My photos show only a small portion of it.

Speaking of huge, check out the amazing palace!

It was built in the early 17th century for King Henry's wife, but is now a government building.

Can you imagine living there?

 We'd never been to Paris in October before, so I was pleasantly surprised to see so many flowers still in bloom!

 There is a small lake in front of the palace, and children can rent little toy sail boats.  We had so much fun watching the kids get all excited over their boats!

 If you look closely below at the little "house" in the center of the lake, you will see resident mallard ducks!

 Each boat had the flag of a different country, so I just had to snap this one of the US!

 Ok, moving on............

We love visiting the beautiful old  churches of Paris.  

This one is called Saint Etienne.

It took over 125 years to build, and was started at the end of the 15th century.

 Of course my pictures just don't do it justice.

Look at that huge pipe organ!

 And of course I just had to share a few more pics of the gorgeous blooms you'll see at the many flower markets and shops thru out the city.

 Well that's it for today. Thanks so much for joining me on my little tour!

If you aren't sick of my trip photos, stop back in next time when I share the pics I snapped on our night time boat tour on the River Seine!

Au Revoir!

Bonjour From Paris!

Bonjour everyone!

Hubby and I just returned from Paris, our very favorite city in the world!  We spent 5 nights there, and had so much fun exploring the city, and also just relaxing.  We took so many pictures, I'll share some today and more over the next few posts.

I'll try and let the photos do most of the talking if I can!

We really lucked out with the weather.  It was in the mid 70's and even 78 degrees on our last day, sunny and no rain.  It was unusually warm for them this time of year. We were told that the previous week was cold and rainy, so we are glad we went when we did!

Below is our hotel, where we always stay when we visit.  The lower portion was recently painted gray, but it used to be bright red which we liked better.

 Look closely and you will see my hubby goofing off on our balcony!

We really loved sitting out there enjoying a glass of wine and a snack, or just people watching.

 Here is the view looking to the east from our room.

I miss it already!

 Below you will see Pont Alexander III, my very favorite bridge.

 That's me!

 We love visiting the beautiful old churches thru out the city.  When I say old, I mean hundreds of years old!  There is so much history it is amazing.  This is Sainte-Chapelle, dating from the 13th century.

 It's considered the most beautiful church in all of Paris. The stained glass windows are amazing!

 Wow!

 I always have to snap lots of pictures of flowers when in Paris.  There are tons of flower shops and markets all thru the city.

 I thought the little bouquets of pansies were so sweet!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you visit again soon, as I'll be sharing more photos in the coming days!

Au revoir!

Sharing with Feathered Nest Friday

A Few More Florida Trip Pics

Hi everyone,

How is your Sunday going?

We are back home from our trip to Florida.  While it's always nice to get away, it feels oh so wonderful to be back home!  We have been so lucky this year weather wise here in Michigan. We returned to temps in the low 60's, which is unheard of for February!

Sadly, it didn't last long, but we are still well above average, and no snow, which is fine with me!

So today, I thought I'd share with you a few more photos of our trip.

Isn't this statue amazing?  It is right near the marina in downtown Sarasota.

If I hadn't been standing in front of it, you might not be able to tell just how huge it is!

It's a recreation of the famous photograph that was taken in New York City, the day WWII ended.

The details are just incredible!  If you look closely, you will even see the seams of the nurses pantyhose!

This sign tells a bit more about it.

Hubby and I joked that it appears there never was a recession in Sarasota!

One look at all of the boats and yachts at the marina,  impressive and elegant high rises and condos, (which are still being built everywhere you look), and plenty of fancy sports cars makes for one glitzy city!

We did not stay in Sarasota.  Unfortunately, the city we were in (which I will not name, to be nice!!)

was, lets just say, much less appealing!!

I snapped the photo of the tree, below near the waterfront in Sarasota.  Not sure what kind it is, but I couldn't get over those crazy roots.  It made me think of banyan trees in Hawaii.

We ran into a group of fellow mid westerners who took our pic.  

Katie was having a good time!!

The last few photos were taken in Lido Key, which is right outside of Sarasota.
They were taken by hubby's son, who came down for the weekend to visit us, along with his girlfriend and hubby's grandson.
Aren't these pups just the cutest??!!!
It's not every day that you see a bunch of cute fluffy little dogs riding along in the sidecar of a motorcycle!!
You can't see them all, but there are five pups!
They were Maltese, and just so darn cute!
The man stopped along the sidewalk, and drew quite a crowd.  His pups are therapy dogs, and he and his wife take them for hospital visits.  His wife was walking around town with two more Maltese.

It was Valentine's Day, and they were all decked out for the occasion!

 I wanted to take them all home!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, hope your week is a good one!

Quebec City Christmas, Part Deux

Hello everyone!

How is your week going so far?

Just 4 more short days 'til Christmas, can you believe it?

Today I thought I'd share with you some more pics from our trip to Quebec City.

Dusted in snow, decked out with lights, Christmas trees and greenery, it was absolutely magical!

Doesn't the restaurant below look straight out of a fairy tale?

Dating from 1675, it was once a former home, which is the oldest in the province, and is considered one of the best restaurants in all of Quebec.

 I just loved the quaint cobblestone streets and old buildings.

 Notre Dame cathedral is quite grand and feels as if it should be in Europe..

 The 1640 Restaurant, below, was our favorite of this trip!  As a matter of fact, we ate their 3 times on this visit!

It's foundation dates to 1640, thus the name.

The staff was super friendly, and the food was amazing!

 A view of the interior.

 We enjoyed breakfast there twice.  

Wow, those French Canadians sure know how to eat!

Huge and hearty portions, perhaps fitting for a lumberjack:)

 Our waiter that morning was so nice, helping me with my French.  He was such a good sport to pose for a photo with moi!

 Our best dinner was also there.  My photo of the beautifully presented goat cheese salad, below doesn't really do it justice.  They served it on a large slate (super cool, I thought!), and garnished it with candied pecans and a poached sweet pear..  

 Hubby and I both had the tagliatelle pasta with salmon and spinach.  It was amazing!

 I usually am not a fan of creme brulee, but I must say I loved their maple creme brulee!

Of course, maple syrup is king in Canada, and is featured in one form or another in many of their dishes.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I'll try and squeeze one more post in before Christmas, to share a bit more decor around our home!